Worst ever embarkation but Wonderful itinerary and ship

Cruises: 2-3 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 7

Review summary

The embarkation experience was THE WORST I have ever experienced. A dedicated check in time of 12:30 - 13:00 yet it took 4 hours to get checked in with zero communication from celebrity staff. Also, you never responded to my emails ( by reply, to captains club and to customer services) when you first communicated the “barnacle” problem which demonstrates you dont value your customers. The cruise itinerary was great and all the service staff (bars, cabin cleaner, restaurant staff) were exceptional- something supervisors, concierge and executive team could do with demonstrating. The ship facilities were also very good and on the whole, the onboard experience was very good. 1) I was constantly bombarded by celebrity emails (circa 2-3 per week) for weeks leading up to departure asking me to comp,eye check in yet your own protocols say we couldn’t check in until we had a negative proof of covid test which had to be within 48 hours! 2) you forced us to book antigen tests in Canada at the cost of $250CAD because all your tests that we could order are solely geared for Americans despite the cruise director commenting that it was mostly UK customers, followed by Canadian customers onboard. I even contacted your UK customer service team and was told I had to sort this myself. In summary, as fully vaccinated travellers, we travelled from Scotland to Canada with 10 days touring Canada and only required tests by Celebrity, again costing us $250 CAD 1) no apology for the horrendous embarkation 2) the $100 onboard credit for the late “barnacle” change to the itinerary was derisory 3) no response from 3 different celebrity emails (inc captains club and “customer service”) to my complaint about (2) 4) you cost us $250 for antigen tests despite being fully vaccinated with NO support to non USA travellers. Such a shame as above means I am looking elsewhere for my next cruise and I have already advised x4 friends/family to look elsewhere as they choose their cruises. Exceptional staff were Lastra and Anjho in the main dining, Vira was a brilliant hostess at main dining and our cabin attendant Grace was first class. Horrendous embarkation experience, derisory offer of onboard credit due to VERY LATE ITINERARY CHANGE and unacceptable costs of antigen tests for non USA customers means I wouldn’t recommend. A real shame as great ship & lovely staff

Embarkation

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

Onboard Activities

Cabin / Stateroom

Ports of call

Cruise Hubbard Glacier

Juneau, Alaska

Ketchikan, Alaska

Vancouver (Canada Place), British Columbia

Cruise Inside Passage, Alaska

Sitka, Alaska

Disembarkation